A Poisonous Arrow to Home
by hyper.fungus
Summary: A dramatized scrutiny of Shiva's last thoughts before he finished his journey and returned "home" to where the center of his existence would be waiting for him... or would she?


**This is a one-shot dedicated to the awesomeness that is Shiva who managed to put the pieces of the puzzle of Elie's life together within 2 milliseconds.**

**Warning:**

**- Spoilers**

**- Quotes in black bold = things that happened in Shiva's past, most of it was before te great explosion happened and destroyed Symphonia. Only 1 quote was in the near past with Alpine.**

**- Some of the quotes never happened. I just inferred them from the story.**

**Enjoy**

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I can still clearly remember that God-awful day. After all, I spent every single day of my life thereafter trying to erase it from my memory while desperately holding on to tiny hope that came out of it.

"_**I'm sorry Shiva, miss Resha… miss Resha passed away… while completing the Holy Bring."**_

She was a weird girl. There was no other way to describe her. Seriously now, who would call Plue a bug? Who was stupid enough to dance alone in the middle of the night in a park? Some creeper could have kidnapped her!

"_**Her last wish was for us to hand you this completed Holy Bring…"**_

Who would allow herself be locked up in a palace to create something that would ultimately take away her life? Yea, only that girl would.

I spent countless hours between the completion of Rave and the grand battle thinking about what was lost and what could never be. True enough, she was one heck of a weird girl and I probably would not be able to handle her in the long run. She was too active, too cheerful, too… full of life. In fact, there was so much life and spirit in her that I did not even consider the possibility of her dying. She had this extremely powerful magic inside her, right? If it was as powerful as rumored to be, it should've been able to save her…

"_**Here lies Resha Valentine, our hero who sacrificed herself for the greater good of human kind. She was appreciated, loved and cherished by everyone. May her soul rest in peace.**_**"**

Why would she even give the Holy Bring to me? Me, a common soldier? What was so special about me? The fact that I tried to rescue her from that cage they called a palace? I'm pretty sure it was a reckless act anyways. It could not have shown her anything special about me. Maybe it was because I was one of the last people she talked to? Or one of the last people who saw her dance without a care in the world? Did she see something then? All she could've seen should be stupidity and thickness because I could not spot the knowing look in her eyes soon enough.

Every time I replayed that last memory in front of the fountain, the more pronounced her sorrowful look became. Why could I not spot it soon enough? I could've stopped her, convinced her that the Holy Bring was not worth her life, that she had so much more to live for in the future…

But then again, what was the use of contemplating on what could never be.

"_**That crying girl… she sounds like miss Resha."**_

"_**Anyone would sound like miss Resha right now"**_

So, why is she standing here in front of me now? Her body's supposed to be down under while her soul waits for me in heaven. That's how my story's supposed to end! I should be reunited with her in the land of forever peace. Then, why is she standing in front of me?

"_**Can I see her for one last time?"**_

"_**No Shiva… the King had already cremated her body. He said that Aetherion took a nasty toll on her body. So, he did not want to present her like that to the world."**_

"… _**How could that bastard? Acting so high and mighty, like he owned Resha! Where the fuck is he right now? He fucking ran away like a coward!! I oughta…"**_

_**BAM**_

"_**Don't you dare dishonor the King's name like that. The King loves his subjects dearly, especially miss Resha. She was like the daughter he never had. He's out there guarding over us while planning something against the Raregloves."**_

It could not be her! It could not be Resha. I refuse to believe it.

Yet she's calling after me. She still has that same clear glint in her eyes, despite her confused and worried look. Does she know it's me? Is she playing games? How could she still be so young after so many years? Did someone revive her? Did someone try to manipulate her power for their own purposes? Was this another sick and twisted plot devised by the Dark Bring bearers?

"_**Alpine, that explosion…"**_

"_**This is bad, Shiva… Words are flying that the doomed monster Endless has awoken again."**_

"_**Endless?"**_

"_**Yes, the eternal compilation of human greed and sins. He was a creature created by the time distortion that happened a long time ago."**_

"_**Will he interfere with Haru's Path? How can we defeat it?"**_

"_**I believe so. Endless and Dark Brings should have the same intentions. As for defeating him… the ancient scriptures only vaguely told us that Aetherion is the only power rivaling Endless's…"**_

So that was it, huh?

You never used up your power.

Aetherion could never be used up.

Aetherion and Endless are of the same level. If Endless was eternal, then so is Aetherion…

And so are you.

You never died.

How clever… how sickeningly clever. You deceived all of us, deceived the people, deceived your loyal guardians, deceived… me.

Yet your eyes do not look remorseful at all. They barely show any recognition of my being. Did you forget me along your accelerated path to the future, Resha? Was I that insignificant in your life?

"Elie… what are you doing?"

Elie? Why is Haru calling her Elie? Wait… Elie was the village she came from, wasn't it? Yea, it was that weird village that was named after its coordinates. ELIE-3173… Hah, the King really was a thinker and manipulator. Even I would not come to that idea. He probably tried to preserve any information that might be useful to the future Resha… the one that transcended through time and forgot the meaning thereof.

"_**Nee Shiva, I met this person a few weeks ago. He saved me from the Rareglove assassins, but I could not remember his face at all!"**_

"_**Haha, not even his hair color?"**_

"_**No! Not even that! I feel so stupid and ungrateful for forgetting!"**_

"_**Hey, hey, don't pout like that, you'll get frown lines!"**_

"_**Mou, Shiva! Stop teasing me!"**_

"_**Haha, ok, ok, I will princess, just stop hitting me. Anyways, as long as you remember that he saved you and you're grateful for it, it should be fine."**_

"_**You think so?"**_

"_**I know so."**_

God dammit! Why is my body decaying so quickly?? Why now? Why do I have to die right after I figured out the whole mess fate brought us into? I need to tell her the truth! I need her to realize how fucked up her reality is… how fucked up our reality is. I need to do that before my journey ends… before I go to that place where I will wait for her to join me… not the other way around, like I expected.

Or maybe there won't be a need for me to wait for her. It looks like she's found another one. Hah, a new and more improved version. And there is no way I could blame her for anything. She doesn't even know how much sin she's committed, how many people she's lied to…

But she will soon enough. And it will break her. It will hit her and leave her crumbling to pieces that cannot be repaired. There were so many tears shed, so many hearts broken and so much damage done that could never be undone.

Even though I hate fate for toying with our lives like this, she should not have to suffer more than she has already. Her decision all those decades ago must have torn her apart. There is no need to re-break her mended heart.

I need to make sure she knows this. God dammit, I need more time! I need more time so I can sit her down, explain to her who she is, offer her a shoulder to cry on when she finally swallows the truth and tell her the feelings I did not dare tell her when I had the chance to.

"Why am I crying?"

She's crying. I cannot stop my lips from twisting into a smile. She is Resha. Her subconscious recognizes me. It is enough. She knows me and that is enough for me.

"Elie." I can call her by her new name now. I'm ready to move on, to let go of the painful past. "This is the last request of an old, dying man." I should not scare her. There is no need for that. "You… you look so much like her, may I hug you…" _for the last time_ "… just this one time?"

She nods.

I could not be happier. She has not changed. She's still too trusting and too kind for her own good. Now, all I need to do is to summarize my discovery to her in a few short sentences that would not creep her out.

"Elie… I have something very important to tell you… Sometime in the future you might think that Resha has committed a grave sin… but you should not feel obliged to make amends… Instead you must be strong for even though what Resha has done was borderline evil, you will come to understand the meaning of it.

"And even if you don't understand anything this old man is saying, promise me… promise me to remember these words… and to never forget them no matter what."

I can feel her nod against my shoulder and at that instant, I feel like all my burdens have been lifted. I'm finally free.

"Thank you… because of you…"

Yes, my long journey has finally come to an end. It is not the end I expected. And it will never be the end I wanted, but fate is cruel in the most delightful way.

"Because of you… I have come to the end of my journey."

Resha was the beginning of meaning in my life. It is appropriate that I end it with her by my side. Even if she won't stay by me for the rest of eternity, as I had wished in vain, it is still comforting and relieving to know that her soul is still somewhere there guarding over me, just like I plan to guard over hers, forever.

"I have come home."

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End file.
